21 children came to enjoy the Christmas story as experienced through the eyes of the little donkey.

It was a fun filled morning of craft activities, stories and songs. Children started with a get-together activity and then re-acted the journey to Bethlehem as experienced by the donkey carrying its precious load.

Craft activities followed and the children made nativity characters using wooden spoons as a base for felt shapes to be attached; Christmas marzipan oranges and chocolate truffle sweeties were made to take home and share with their families and the children also produced Christmas cards and thought carefully about who they were going to give them to. Some children painted a wonderful scene of the stable, Mary, Joseph and the baby and angels singing in the sky.

The morning finished with the singing of Little Donkey and other Christmas songs and everyone went home after a very enjoyable morning.

Many thanks to Jane for an inspirational morning which gave the children a real insight into the story of Jesus’ birth.

We held another successful Nativity Exhibition during the first week of Advent 2016. Groups of children from two local schools visited during morning openings; the public came each afternoon and Uniformed Organisations (Rainbows, Brownies, Beavers and Cub Scouts visited in the evenings.

The Exhibition featured Nativity sets from around the world made from a variety of materials:- wood, clay, paper, metal and even banana fibre! Some were African models depicting the nativity scene with people dressed in African costume, some were made in Peru and showed llamas in the stable instead of the ox and ass and a Vietnamese model was made from rolled magazine paper which had been glued together to represent the Holy Family in the stable.

We were delighted that local schools had supplied paintings created by the children to show scenes and characters from the Nativity story.

The Exhibition was free but guests were invited to make a voluntary donation and £198.52 was raised. This is to be divided between our current Mission Project (Mission Aviation Fellowship) and our Church Funds.

Everyone enjoyed looking at over 100 tiny models, each telling the story of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.

Children delighted at looking at the models and seeing their paintings on display.

Meetings are monthly and are usually on the last Thursday of each month. The film club enjoys a variety of films which each lasts about 2 hours. The film is followed by home made cakes and cups of tea. The refreshments cost £2.00 per person.

The Rainbows, Brownies and their parents joined us. Our Music group also played.

What is the meaning of Christingle?

A sweet, juicy, shiny orange represents the goodness of the earth that God created.

Four sticks (cocktail sticks) are put into four corners of the top side of the orange. These represent the four seasons of the year.

Onto each stick is threaded dried fruit like sultanas or raisins. This represents all the goodness of the fruit of the earth and the richness of animals and birds that God has provided on his earth. Sometimes we use small jelly sweets or candy.

A red ribbon wrapped around the orange and fixed in place with a pin represents the blood of Jesus who died for the salvation of the whole world.

The white candle is placed in the very top of the orange into a pre-prepared hole. Sometimes some foil is used to help fix the candle into position. This candle represents Jesus, the light of the world, God’s son.

Everyone enjoyed the service and took a Christingle home to remind them that Jesus is the Light of the world.